When I got near the waist, I started adding some inner basswood bark pieces vertically, to fill out the skirt, and twined with it. It's a very messy fiber for twining, and I was getting frustrated with the slowness.
For more info on collecting and retting basswood: http://http.wightman.ca/~mark.whitcombe/basswood_twining.html
I pretty much followed the same method, but soaked my bark in large plastic containers for a month and longer. The author shows how to make cordage with the basswood fiber, also.
Another good resource is http://ryukyutextile.com/kasuri/linden.html#29
Mari Yamaguchi Newell shows the Japanese method for making basswood/linden string, which is much more labor intensive.
I settled for in between, since I am a beginning spinner. I shredded the inner basswood into 1/4" wide lengths, and tied them together to make very long weavers. In many places, you can see where I left the knots exposed. This was much easier to work with, so I continued twining, and then went to an open weave for the lower portion.
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On the spinning wheel |
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| Now I need a title. I'm thinking of something w/ flame and dress. Any suggestions? |
